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Colombia’s President Reinstates a Mayor He Ousted

Gustavo Petro, center, arrived at city hall in Bogotá, Colombia, on Wednesday after being reinstated as mayor of the city.Credit
Fernando Vergara/Associated Press

BOGOTÁ, Colombia — Residents of this capital city may feel as if they are suffering political whiplash after President Juan Manuel Santos on Wednesday reinstated the mayor that he had removed from office only a month earlier.

The latest bizarre twist in the topsy-turvy saga of the mayor, Gustavo Petro, a leftist and former guerrilla leader, came after a judge issued a surprise order Tuesday night giving Mr. Santos 48 hours to reinstate Mr. Petro.

Mr. Santos had removed Mr. Petro on March 19 to comply with a decision by the country’s powerful inspector general, who ruled that the mayor broke the law when he transferred garbage collection services to a city agency from private companies. Mr. Petro was also barred from holding public office for 15 years.

But a judge in Bogotá on Tuesday found that Mr. Santos had acted improperly when he ignored a request by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to suspend the ouster because it could violate the mayor’s rights.

“Some might like it and others not, but my obligation as president of the country is to obey the law and the rulings of judges,” Mr. Santos said, adding that he had no choice but to reinstate Mr. Petro.

Mr. Petro’s removal was first ordered by the inspector general, Alejandro Ordóñez, last December, but the mayor managed to forestall it until March, partly by obtaining stays in court. Mr. Petro accused Mr. Ordóñez, a rightist, of having political motives and wanting to push him out of politics because he was a popular leftist.

“It has had the community in suspense,” said Orlando Gómez, 56, a lawyer, referring to the long saga. He said he was pleased at the decision to return Mr. Petro to office, adding that the findings of the international human rights body should take precedence.

But Javier Lombo, a book and magazine seller with a shop near the center of Bogotá, said he opposed Mr. Petro’s return.

“This means that big businesses will be afraid to invest in the city because there’s no seriousness in the administration,” he said. “The city is a mess because no one knows where we’re headed.”

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Yet the surprise reinstatement seemed unlikely to be the last word on the matter, and Mr. Petro could still face serious challenges to his hold on office.

His removal came shortly before he was to face a recall election orchestrated by his political opponents. Now it appeared likely that the recall could be rescheduled to take place in the coming weeks.

Mr. Petro could also face challenges in the courts. The office of the inspector general said it would file papers seeking to reverse the order requiring his reinstatement.

With Mr. Petro’s return, Bogotá had its third mayor in three days.

When Mr. Santos removed Mr. Petro, he appointed the national labor minister, Rafael Pardo, as interim mayor. But Mr. Pardo was just a placeholder because Mr. Santos was then required to choose a replacement mayor from a group of candidates nominated by Mr. Petro’s political party. Mr. Santos finally announced that choice on Monday, designating María Mercedes Maldonado, who had been Mr. Petro’s housing secretary, as the new interim mayor.

In theory, Ms. Maldonado would have served until new elections could be held, but she hardly had time to drink a cup of coffee in the mayor’s office before the court said Mr. Petro could return to it.

“It seems like a Guinness record for the mayor who lasted the least time in office,” said Juanita Gutiérrez, 22, a student.

Mr. Petro was elected in 2011. His troubles date to December 2012, when he put a city agency in charge of garbage collection, which had been handled by private companies under lucrative contracts. The handover was widely regarded as a disaster, with garbage piling up in the streets, and the inspector general found that Mr. Petro had flouted requirements for competition in public services.

On Wednesday, local news media reported that a government regulatory body, the Superintendency of Industry and Commerce, had ordered the city to end the garbage collection system imposed by Mr. Petro. The reports said that the agency had also fined several public officials involved in the trash decision, including Mr. Petro, who, according to one report, was ordered to pay more than $200,000.

Susan Abad contributed reporting.

A version of this article appears in print on April 24, 2014, on Page A10 of the New York edition with the headline: Colombia’s President Reinstates a Mayor He Ousted. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe